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Events can be a great opportunity to get face-to-face with drivers looking for new positions. However, that doesn’t mean your recruiters should attend every event. Making sure you have chosen the correct event to sponsor is key to boosting your recruiting.

If you understand your fleet’s recruiting nuances, you can determine what is important for an event sponsorship for you.

National events which include drivers from all over the country are great opportunities for larger, national fleets to roll out new pay packages or other promotions. For small fleets, it can be the speed-dating version of recruiting.

The Great American Trucking Show, for instance, includes a recruiting pavilion and drivers from across the country. For a large fleet with a number of terminals across the United States, it is an opportunity to interact with thousands of drivers and generates positive brand awareness.

On the other hand, a small fleet can also benefit from a larger event. While a national event may cost you a few thousand dollars, you have an opportunity to get in front of thousands of drivers and speed up the interview process. Even if you only hire a handful of drivers your costs are completely justified.

Each event is different. But you should base your sponsorship decision on a couple of different factors: whether or not events offer additional sponsorship opportunities, attendee demographics, and actionable attendee data.

1. Additional Sponsorship Opportunities

Event sponsorship should always include a pre-event digital campaign. (I will talk more about this later in the week, so stay tuned for that!) But additional sponsorship opportunities can also help build an on-site presence by getting in front of drivers as much as possible at the event.

Finding extra ways to make your presence known to drivers is integral to having a successful event.

For example, you are sponsoring an event and are provided attendee emails and physical addresses. Before the show you might create an email campaign sent to the list of drivers you are most interested in. You could also geo-target a banner campaign around terminals with large concentrations of attendees based off the addresses you received.

Any actionable data provided by event management can help you improve your pre-event marketing campaigns.

Events are an effective way to get in front of the drivers you need to hire. By understanding a few things about the events you sponsor, you can choose the right events to hire the drivers your fleet needs to thrive.